Okay, so I know this is a bit of a filler chapter, but I hope it's still okay. You learn more about the other tributes in this chapter. I try not to do filler chapters for this reason so I hope it's okay and not too rambling/descriptive. Enjoy!
I'm so excited for training the next day that I bolt down a huge breakfast before descending in the elevator. Leo just gives me an odd look and rolls his eyes, but I don't care. Despite the reason for it, I actually find training fun! Consequently, I'm one of the first tributes to arrive. The only other tributes are the two from District 5, Benjamin -15 and Greta-15.
They grow quiet as I enter, although I'm hardly intimidating. "Hi! Benjamin and Greta right?" I squeal, beaming a huge smile at them.
"It's Ben, actually." The boy says, not looking at me.
"You're way too happy about training." Greta sniffs.
I take that as a cue to play up the 'princess' act. "Well, I figure if I'm gonna die, I might as well enjoy my last few days! No point in being a grouch!" I say.
"That's a little optimistic." Ben notes. His eyes do that elevator thing but I know he's only sizing me up as competition. He must think a short girl who's obviously a ditz is no competition because his shoulders and expression relax. As soon as he relaxes, Greta does as well, as if waiting for permission from him.
"Yeah, well, the Careers have been training their whole lives! If they weren't a part of the games we might actually stand a chance cause then we could actually steal some decent supplies from the cornucopia." I say, glowering at the District 2 kids who've just arrived.
"You said it! It's totally unfair!" Greta agrees.
"Wait a minute! What do you mean by 'we'?" Ben inquires.
"Oh, nothing. Just, um…us outer district kids in general." I say, indicating the District 6 and 9 kids who've arrived.
"You couldn't possibly mean like an alliance or something?" Greta asks slyly.
"What?! I mean… if you want to, but I kind of already have an alliance with some other kids." I mumble sheepishly.
"Your District partner and the tributes from 8, right?" Ben asks. I nod, so he continues, "Well, maybe if you change your mind, you could join us."
"What Ben means is, we want to ally with you just not all the kids you're allied with." Greta clarifies.
"Oh, well, I'm flattered." I say.
"So…?" Ben prompts.
"Um…can I get back to you on that?" I ask
"Why?" Greta pouts.
"Well, I need to ask my mentor." I say. They nod in understanding at that so I press on, "Out of curiosity, why don't you like my allies?"
"It's not that we don't like them…" Greta mutters.
"It's just Nía, she's basically useless and weak." Ben finishes.
"Between you and me, I agree, but Hayden and Nía seem to be a package deal and I definitely want Hayden. He's great at survival and archery and you know what they say…keep your friends close and all that." I confide.
"So, if something should happen to Nía, we'd consider the rest of you." Ben winked. Greta nodded.
"I get your drift…" I say, "But can I ask you two something?"
"Sure, anything!" Greta says. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree when I basically promised to kill Nía, probably because it would mean three strong, new allies.
"How do you two know each other?" I ask.
They look stunned, as if my question surprised them. "Wha-what do you mean?" Ben stammered.
"I saw Greta flinch when you were reaped and I couldn't help but think you two must be friends or maybe cousins…" I trail off.
"We're actually dating." Greta admits. She's glaring at me, as if to dare me to feel sorry for them.
"Oh, wow. That really blows." I say, because I can't think of anything else to say.
"Yeah." Ben says. Things feel really awkward then and I don't know what to say, which is probably why I ditch them as soon as Hayden and Nía show up. Or maybe it's to hide from my for-sure allies that I was conspiring with the District 5 kids.
"Hey, what's up?" Hayden says, staring pointedly at the District 5 kids.
I decide to go for the partial truth. "I noticed that they seemed to know each other at the Reaping, so I wanted to ask them about it." I say, shrugging as if it's not important.
"Yeah, I noticed that too." Nía says. Her tone invites an explaination.
"They're a couple." I say, but Nía still looks baffled so I explain, "They're dating." Even Nía, slow as she was on the uptake, winces in sympathy. Then they both do that thing where they stare at the District 5 couple while trying to look like they're not staring at them. We chit chat idly until Leo arrives at the same time as the District 12 Tributes, completing the group.
Just then, Atala releases us and we decide to work on weapons until lunch. I practice throwing spears for a little bit, then I spar with the trainer, using some of the quarterstaff techniques I remember Leo using. I move on after a half hour, though. I was planning on practicing sword fighting and archery, just for show, but I skip over both of them in favor of what I really wanted to learn – knives.
Walking over to the knives, I spend a half hour listening to the trainer describe the different types of knives, and the best way to throw each of them. I spend the morning, perfecting my form and my throw, and by the time the bell rings for lunch, I'm hitting the target about 80% of the time. It's not as easy as I may have imagined, but it's still fun. I knew the minute I picked it up that it was the best weapon for me, even if there was a lot to know about throwing it. The knives were lighter than the swords and didn't unbalance me at all. They were easier to handle than the spears, and were far easier to throw than pulling back a bowstring. It was a perfect weapon for a petite yet strong girl like me. Bonus: none of the Careers seemed to specialize in knives so if there are any, there won't be as much competition to obtain them.
I can't help the bounce in my step as I serve myself and join my allies at what I'm starting to think of as 'our' table. I chow down on the food with a smile and listen to Leo rave about how well he's doing at spear throwing and Hayden discuss which bows work best for him. Nía stays sullen and quiet. I remember seeing her fly through the obstacle course in decent time, but I don't know if she's found a weapon yet.
"Of course, what bow you prefer is pointless since we might not get any of the weapons we want." Nía finally snaps.
"But we have to hope! I mean…I'm no good at sword fighting and I don't even want to think about if there aren't any spears." Leo gasps.
"You're both right. Nía, we have to be prepared for the worst, but Leo is right to hope for the best. As long as we demonstrate how good we are at our designated weapons, they'll be inclined to put them in the cornucopia for the sake of entertainment. It's far more interesting for the Capitol when there are a bunch of strong, well-matched competitors. That's what makes the finale so great to them." I reason.
"But what if I'm not good at any weapon?" Nía whispers. She's so quiet, I'm not sure if we were meant to hear it or not.
"Cheer up Nía. You'll find something you're good at." Hayden says, patting her shoulder. She just sniffs and picks at her food until the bell rings.
"Should we still work on weapons?" Leo asks as we get up to leave.
"Nía should." I say, "But the rest of us should practice on the obstacle course one more time."
"True, but we also need to practice our survival stuff again." Hayden says.
"How 'bout the three of us practice on the obstacle course and Nía can try out some more weapons; then we could join up again for the last hour or so to work on survival stuff?" Leo suggests. It's a good plan, and we all agree to it.
The first time through the obstacle course, Leo, Hayden, and I race each other. I beat Leo by a hair, but Hayden comes in far behind us. His height seems to be the main issue, and while he's strong enough, he's not that as coordinated as us. We then try sprinting around the track. Unsurprisingly, Hayden is the fastest since his legs are the longest, while Leo and I tie. All three of us know how to swim, so we skip the pool and work on the obstacle course some more.
Eventually, I tell Leo to go work on survival training a half hour early since he's tiring out, and he's doing relatively well on the obstacle course, while his survival skills are still lacking. By the time Hayden and I join Nía and Leo, we're both much faster and Hayden is more coordinated so that he's losing by less and less time.
We don't bother rotating today. Leo works on everything, Nía works on fire building and shelter/Camouflage, Hayden works on edible plants, and I work on some more fire starting techniques. At least we'll be able to survive. I think smugly as I notice Ben, Greta, and the tributes from District 3 and 6, join us. That must mean the kids from 7, 9, 11, and 12 already know the basics of survival. It makes sense; those districts are all really close to nature, except 12 which is poor and out in the boondocks.
I'm confident in our skills by the end of the day, but constant nightmares about the games sap all of my confidence away by the next morning. By the time I finally get some peaceful sleep, it's already 4:00am. I must miss whatever alarm or wakeup call there was, because I wake up to Gorath shaking me roughly.
"Wha-What time is it?" I yawn, noting that the room is very bright.
"Let me put it this way princess, you have 15 minutes to get dressed, eat, and get down to training." Gorath sneers. The effect is instantaneous, like lighting a fire under my ass. I immediately jump out of bed – taking a moment to register that my stomach doesn't hurt at all anymore – and run into the bathroom. I decide to use some powerful last-all-day perfume and brush my teeth before racing back into my room. I grab the first thing I see, a tee shirt and shorts, before racing out to the dining room. Everyone is finished with breakfast so I'm the only one there. I grab two croissants and a strip of bacon before running to the elevator. The small breakfast seems abnormal compared to what I've been eating, but there were days when I had to eat and run when I was late for school, so this actually feels pretty normal.
Why couldn't Gorath wake me sooner? I gripe as I try to wipe the bacon grease off on my (black) shorts. I just have time to swallow my last bite of croissant by the time the elevator lands. I'm the last one to arrive, and judging by the annoyed looks from the trainers, I'm late. Atala dismisses everyone as soon as I arrive so I jog over to the others.
"What took you so long?" Leo asks.
"Overslept," I grunt. They take in my frazzled look and messy hair – as messed up as a pixie cut can get, anyway – and accept my answer without further explanation.
"We should work on whatever it takes to help us get good scores." Hayden says, "We'll need them to get sponsors."
None of us contradict his logic, so we split up and work on different things. I do the edible plants test again, run through the obstacle course one last time, and throw spears and knives until lunch. I'm feeling confident, I'm hitting the spear targets just over 80% of the time for still targets, and 45% of the time for moving targets, and I'm up to 90% accuracy with still targets for knives, and 60% for moving targets. I even saw the Gamemakers looking at me when I was practicing knife throwing, so that's one less thing I'll have to focus on in private training.
Lunch today is a quiet affair. The only people talking are the Careers, the rest of us are too nervous about our scores to say anything. After lunch is when we are called individually for our private sessions. I try to imagine what each person is showing the Gamemakers and what score they'll get. Before I know it, Hayden, and then Nía, is called away. Leo and I egg them on as they stand up and walk out in turn. I wonder what score I'll get. An eight or a nine, maybe? Jonathon got a nine and he still got killed by a girl who only got a 7. Just as this thought flickers through my mind, Leo's name is called.
"Good luck." I say. He'll probably get a six or a seven. My mind automatically thinks.
"Thanks, you too. See you upstairs." Leo says as he stands and wipes his sweaty palms on his pants.
As soon as the door closes behind him, I realize that I'll go nuts if I have to wait alone. I immediately stand up and pace over to where the District 11 kids are.
"Mind if I sit with you?" I ask, quietly. They seem surprised, but shake their heads and indicate that I should sit, so I do. I stare at them, and they stare back at me, as we assess each other. They both have chocolate skin, not quite as dark as Angus, and chocolate eyes and frizzy hair to match. Up close they look scary thin, yet both have well-defined, if not very big, muscles, just like me.
"I'm Eda." The girl says. I can't tell from her tone if she's glad to meet me or not, so I stay silent.
"I'm Jorge." The boy says, "The third." Too bad there won't be a Jorge the forth. I think, sadly. I remember from their reaping that Eda is 15 and Jorge is 13. Unless they get really good scores, they won't have any sponsors with their skinny frames and being from an outer District.
"I'm Diana." I say, politely. Apparently that's all they wanted to know because they turn their backs on me and ignore me until my name is called. They don't even wish me luck; course, we're not allies so it would only benefit them if I did poorly.
I remind myself of Gorath's instructions to do well in my private session as I enter the gym. The Gamemakers are all sitting around a big table full of food, some of them paying half attention to me, most of them drinking brightly colored cocktails.
"Ah-HEM!" I shout loudly, when they refuse to acknowledge me.
"Yes miss?" One of them asks, testily.
"I was wondering if I'm allowed to hurt and/or knock out the assistants?" I inquire sweetly, plastering a smile on my face. Please say yes, please say yes, please…
"Well, I suppose…as long as you don't do any lasting damage…" The Gamemaker blusters, obviously taken aback. My smile grows wider. I'm gonna enjoy this!
I then recruit the head trainer for hand to hand combat and ask him to spar with me. "And don't hold back!" I say cheekily. He gives me a doubtful look, but before he can respond, I'm attacking him. He's unprepared and ends up knocked into the pool.
"I did warn you not to go easy." I say, giggling. He hoists himself out of the pool and charges back into the ring. I sidestep him and retaliate. This time, he's actually prepared, and trying to win, so it takes me a few minutes before he's kneeling down, wheezing and clutching his ribs in pain. By this point, I've gained the attention of all of the Gamemakers.
I decide to take pity on the poor trainer, and ask for three assistants to take his place. They give each other a smug look that clearly says "Three big guys against one puny girl? This ought to be easy!" I know my limits, however, and I'm pretty sure of my opponents skill, so I don't think I've bitten off more than I can chew. I'm right. It takes longer this time, but I end up standing over them as they lay wheezing for mercy with nothing more than a bruised rib where one of them caught me a glancing blow.
"How much time do I have left?" I ask, struggling not to sound like I'm breathing as hard as I am.
"Oh, ten minutes at most." The Head Gamemaker says. I have a feeling there's actually less time, but they want to see more.
I decide to take a risk, considering I'll be thrown into the games in any condition. I quickly employ five of the trainers, and drag out a set of low balance beams. Hopping on, I signal for them to attack me. I can tell they think I've lost it, that I must have suffered a blow to my head during training. None of them move until one of the Gamemakers barks at them to 'get on with it'. I'm unable to check my time, but I'm sure I don't use all of my allotted ten minutes. I do know that I have to be double careful not to fall off the balance beams. I give each of the assistants my signature blow to the base of the skull, knocking each of them flat. By the time I've knocked the forth one unconscious, some of the Gamemakers have started to cheer me on quietly. I even get some applause as the Head Gamemaker excuses me. Maybe the euphoria will spread on to Jorge's private session. He'll need it. I think as the elevator whizzes me up to the 10th floor.
Okay, so you must like something about this story to have read so far. Please tell me what your favorite part is and what you hope will happen. I know what I want to do with this story but I'm open to any good ideas! See if you can guess why I named this chapter, "Contingency Plan"!
